doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Receiver Case Coloring Methodologies

If the correct quench process is used and braced correctly ,they will not warp !!!!!!!!!!!!

ole col, et al... flame broiled, roasted or slow cooked, how does one tell the difference?

Search the BBS for MANY examples. You will find them. And you will be more than familiar with them. No need to rehash this garbage again.

Lets all just let this thread die already.

Having worked in machine shops for over 35 years & seeing many many parts go from heat treat ovens, vats etc & into quench tanks, by certified & qualified heat treaters I find this statement to be an absolute Absurdity.
It is an absolute impossibility to say that a part raised to its critical temperature & then give a sudden quench that it "WILL NOT WARP".
"IF" it is not raised to that critical temp & given that sudden quench then it will not come out hard but will rather be essentially annealed.

Thanks, Ken. All I know about gunsmithing is what I read here and of the work and words of gunsmiths to whom I send my guns. Dr. Gaddy's letter qualifies warping to my satisfaction. He says of the correct process: "virtually no warpage will take place" and a couple sentences later refers to "Many British craftsmen follow a similar schedule . ." British craftsman and now Canadian Nick Makinson brought my mint SW back to perfection from six months submerged in salt water. He reminded me of the risk of warping, and I decided not to take it. No regrets.

sounds like flame broiling and roasting of shotgun receivers are case coloring methodologies to be avoided due to high probability of receiver damage...

so what about slow cooking with various sauces? does anyone have other methodologies to share here?

mr piper how many first hand examples of case coloring/hardening if firearm receivers have you examined?i am curious of the percentage of hard fitting required and the amount of bracing while hardening thanks. MC

MC;
I have not witnessed any color case hardening of fireframes frames. My experience with both heat treating & case hardening has been in the machinist trade with non firearms related parts. While I was a machinist & not a metallurgist I do know enough about the process to know that to make a flat out statement that a piece of steel which has been heated to its critical temperature & then given a sudden quench "Will Not Warp:" is basically absurd. Take it for whatever its worth to you, it didn't cost anything.
Warping can occur in any form of heat treating. With case hardening as the hard part is only on the surface with a soft core beneath they can be Bent back into shape. Of course proper procedure, including blocking, can minimize warpage but is no absolute guarantee against it occurring.
Personally when I have a good fitting, smoothly working gun I am not willing to chance any problems just for the sake of color, I still have the hard case, it is not lost with the colors. There is even a remote possibility the frame could "Crack" in the quench. To me it is just not worth the chance.

2 piper,i understand,were there any precautions taken to keep the machine parts from warping ? and i agree on the coloring just for the sake of color,but the gun was made and hardened and functioned for 100 years,if you restore a gun re,engrave coloring goes with that.mc